Garment bag



J1me 1942 J. J. s'r. LAURENT GARMENT BAG Filed April 5, 1940 INVENTOR- dwnl. JZ'ZAl/RE/VT ATTORNEY Patented June 30, 1942 GARMEN'I." BAG John J. St. Laurenhchickasaw, Ala., assignnr; by mesne: assignments to Internationallaper Company,- New York, N. 1 a corporation ofi New York Application April 5, 1940, SerialNo. 3285058 1 Claim.

My inventionrel-ates to garment bagsand the process of making the same, and more particularly to a garment bag having a centrally disposed gap through whichthe heck of an ordinary garment hanger may be passed.

Garment bags of'the type wherein the upper end is diagonally folded leaving a central ap, or opening through which the hook of the hanger may be passed are subject to the defect that they are not dustproof due primarily to the size of the gap or opening necessary to allow the hook of the hanger to pass therethrough. Attempts have been made to reinforce this gap or opening, but so far as I am aware the reinforcement does not render the garment bag dustproof.

Therefore anobje'ct of my invention is to provide a substantially dustproof garment bag with means located adjacent the gap through which the hook of a garment hanger is passed which will yield to the .passage of the said hook, but which will also reassume the normal position after the passage of said hook to thereby effect a substantial closure of said gap.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device of the character stated which comprises a fiat tubular body having oppositely inclined shoulder portions formed by folding and securing the corner sections of one end and a valve disposed intermediate the shoulder portions for passage of a garment hanger hook therethrough.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device of the character stated in which the valve is formed from the material of the tubular body and is automatically closeable following passage of the hook therethrough.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device of the character stated which is so formed that no changes to existing bag making machines will be necessary in order to produce the same.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device of the character stated which requires no increase in the amount of bag making material needed as compared to that heretofore used.

Further features and advantages will become more apparent from the following description and claims when taken in connection with the attached drawing in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of the bag tube from which the bag is formed and shows details of construction of the closing flap and tab;

Fig. 2 is a similar fragmentary View showing the manner in which the diagonally disposed shoulders are formed and their relation to the closing means; and

the top portion of the garment bag illustrating the manner in which the heck of the garment hanger is thrust through the gap between the diagonally disposed shouldersandthe operation of the closing flap.

Referring to the drawing; in detail, the invention; as illustrated intthe drawing, is embodied in a garment bag comprising a bag tube Informed in the usual manner from a continuous web of paper. The tube is made by overlapping the longitudinal marginal edges, II and I2" of theweb and securingth'em together by adhesive. Individual bag blanks A are formed from the tube by passing the tube through any suitable or conventional cut-off mechanism which will provide a projecting flap Mi as anlintegral part of one wall portion of the tube and preferably extending across the full width thereof; and a tab I3 centrally disposed on the other Wall portion and projecting coextensively with the flap. The cutoff operation will also provide a recess ISA at the other end of the blank which is complementary to the tab IS. The exact contour or configuration of the flap I4 may be changed or varied at will so long as the flap M has a greater width than the opposing tab I3. By cutting off the bag lengths in this manner there Will be no waste of material nor will there be any more material used than is used in making the conventional garment bag.

The upper corners i 5 of the bag blank or form A are diagonally folded along the lines l6 in the manner illustrated in Fig. 2 to thereby provide shoulders l6 conforming generally to the contour of the garment hanger. The diagonal folds are so formed as to leave a slight gap ll therebetween. However, due to the presence of the tab I3, this gap is substantially closed. The diagonal folds are secured to the face of the bag by means of spaced adhesive stripes l8 which are normally applied to the inner face of the flap l4 opposing the tab I3, but leaving a clear area or void directly opposite the tab. In order to permit displacement of the material of the flap M which has also been folded'over when the diagonal folds were made, the lines of adhesive do not extend up as far as the lateral limits [9 of the tab. The clear area opposite the tab l3 has been provided to permit displacement of the material of the flap [4 during passage of a hanger hook through the gap I! without having to displace or separate any adhered portions of material. It should be noted that the shape of the tab l3 as illustrated in the drawing is such that when the folds It Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are fragmentary plan views of 55 are cted there will be no fold of any p i s of the tab material. This results in only a double ply rather than a triple ply as would be the case if the tab I3 were more extensive. Of course if it were found desirable to utilize an additional thickness a more extensive tab I3 may be employed.

By reference to Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawing, it will be observed that a garment hanger 20, having a hook 2| connected therewith by a shank portion 22, is so disposed within the bag that the hook 2| is being pushed through the gap II. It should be noted that the material of the flap M, being free to move, has been displaced an amount sufficient to allow passage of the hook. Further movement of the hook will position the shank portion 22 thereof within the gap [1 and the normal resiliency of the paper of the blank will cause the flap Hi to return to the normal folded position, thereby substantially closing the gap opened by the passage of the hook. (See Fig. 5.) In this manner the top of the bag is closed so that it is substantially dustproof from the top.

In garment bags generally it is the custom to leave the bottoms thereof open for ready insertion of garments therein. However, if after a garment has been placed within the bag, it becomes desirable to close the lower end thereof,

such closing may be effected by any conventional means such as by turning up the bottom and securing it in such position or by actually sealing the bottom with adhesive or the like.

Thus it will be observed that the invention herein described provides a substantially dustproof garment bag which comprises a flat tubular body having oppositely inclined shoulder portions formed by folding and securing the corner sections of one end and having valve means disposed intermediate the said inclined shoulder portions for permitting passage of a garment hanger hook therethrough and being automatically closeable following passage of the hook.

Many methods of constructing the above described garmentbag may be employed and I do not therefore wish to be limited to any particular type of machine. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, little or no change need be made to existing bag making machines since the formation of the tab I3 can be done by merely adjusting the cut-off means, and the paste applying device can be notched so as not to apply paste to the tab.

I claim:

A garment bag comprising a flat tubular body including opposed wall portions, one of said wall portions being provided with a flap projecting beyond the end of the other wall portion, said other wall portion being provided with a centrally disposed upwardly tapering tab of less width than said flap and of a length equal to that of the flap, adhesive applied to the inner surface of said flap in spaced strips, the void between said spaced strips of adhesive being disposed generally opposite said tab, the upper corners of said tubular body being folded over onto the wall portion that includes said tab along lines substantially meeting at the top, the sides of said tab substantially coinciding with the fold lines to thereby provide oppositely inclined shoulder portions, said flap and said tab conjointly forming a central valve for passage of a garment hanger hook and being automatically closeable following passage of the hook therethrough.

JOHN J. ST. LAURENT. 

